Hermann Alexander Diels
Encyclopedia
Hermann Alexander Diels (May 18, 1848 - June 4, 1922) was a German
classical
scholar.
and Berlin
and in 1886 became professor ordinarius of classical philology at the latter institution.
Based on Diels' enumeration of the fragments, the testimonia in the Diels collection are known as the "A-fragments", while the quotations from the Presocratics are known as the "B-fragments". Diels's method of labeling the fragments has become the standard way of referring to the works of the Presocratics.
For example, what is thought to be the introductory section of Parmenides
' poem on the Ways of Truth and Opinion was quoted by Sextus Empiricus
and Simplicius
; in Diels-Kranz this is labeled as fragment 28B1 - i.e., chapter 28, section B, fragment 1. The "28" stands for Parmenides (to whom Diels-Kranz devote chapter 28 in the numeration of the current edition), the "B" indicates that it is a quotation, and the "1" means that it is the first quotation in Diels' ordering of quotations of Parmenides. On the other hand, the beginning of Plato
's account (in his Parmenides 127ff.) of an alleged visit of Parmenides and Zeno
to Athens is labeled by Diels as fragment 29A11. "29" stands for Zeno (the next Presocratic after Parmenides in Diels' collection), since this particular passage in Plato has more directly to do with Zeno than Parmenides; the "A" indicates that it is a "testimonium", a story about the philosopher(s) in question, not a quotation; and the "11" means that it is the 11th testimonium about Zeno in Diels. The ordering of Presocratics in Diels is roughly chronological (from Orpheus
to the author of the Dissoi Logoi
); the numbering of the fragments themselves, within each chapter, is determined generally by the alphabetic order of the names of the sources. The usual way of citing fragments in Diels' edition is to append "Diels-Kranz" or the letters "DK" to the fragment-number; so for example "28B1 Diels-Kranz" or "28B1 DK" (discussed above).
Often, a commentator will refer to a fragment in Diels-Kranz in a more abbreviated form. For example, one may refer to 28B1 as simply "Parmenides, fragment 1".
In spite of the respect paid to Diels' monumental work, there is ongoing controversy among scholars over the details of his arrangement of the fragments. For example, some fragments categorized by Diels as quotations are thought by some scholars to be in reality only paraphrases or explanations of the Presocratic work in question. Also, Diels-Kranz does not of course include fragments discovered since its publication, such as fragments from the Strasbourg papyrus (published in 1998), which preserves for us pieces of Empedocles
' poetry never before known in modern times. (What we have in the Strasbourg Papyrus seems to be a continuation of the part of Empedocles' On Nature which is 31B17 DK.)
An English translation or paraphrase of each of the B-fragments in Diels-Kranz may be found in Kathleen Freeman's Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford, 1948; Harvard U. Press, 1957), though it is based on the fifth edition of Diels-Kranz, whose numbering of fragments is somewhat different from later editions.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
classical
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
scholar.
Biography
He was educated at the universities of BonnUniversity of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
and Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and in 1886 became professor ordinarius of classical philology at the latter institution.
Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker
He is now known for a collection of quotations from and reports about Presocratic philosophers. This work, entitled Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (The Fragments of the Presocratics), is still widely used by scholars. It was first published in 1903, was later revised and expanded three times by Diels, and was finally revised in a 5th edition (1934-7) by Walther Kranz and again in a sixth edition (1952). It consists of three volumes that present, for each of the Presocratics, both quotations from their (now mostly lost) works transmitted by later writers, and secondary-source material known as testimonia.Based on Diels' enumeration of the fragments, the testimonia in the Diels collection are known as the "A-fragments", while the quotations from the Presocratics are known as the "B-fragments". Diels's method of labeling the fragments has become the standard way of referring to the works of the Presocratics.
For example, what is thought to be the introductory section of Parmenides
Parmenides
Parmenides of Elea was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy. The single known work of Parmenides is a poem, On Nature, which has survived only in fragmentary form. In this poem, Parmenides...
' poem on the Ways of Truth and Opinion was quoted by Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus , was a physician and philosopher, and has been variously reported to have lived in Alexandria, Rome, or Athens. His philosophical work is the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman skepticism....
and Simplicius
Simplicius
Simplicius may refer to:* Pope Simplicius * Simplicius of Cilicia , philosopher* Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus , Roman martyrs and saints* Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix , Roman martyrs and saints...
; in Diels-Kranz this is labeled as fragment 28B1 - i.e., chapter 28, section B, fragment 1. The "28" stands for Parmenides (to whom Diels-Kranz devote chapter 28 in the numeration of the current edition), the "B" indicates that it is a quotation, and the "1" means that it is the first quotation in Diels' ordering of quotations of Parmenides. On the other hand, the beginning of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's account (in his Parmenides 127ff.) of an alleged visit of Parmenides and Zeno
Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound".- Life...
to Athens is labeled by Diels as fragment 29A11. "29" stands for Zeno (the next Presocratic after Parmenides in Diels' collection), since this particular passage in Plato has more directly to do with Zeno than Parmenides; the "A" indicates that it is a "testimonium", a story about the philosopher(s) in question, not a quotation; and the "11" means that it is the 11th testimonium about Zeno in Diels. The ordering of Presocratics in Diels is roughly chronological (from Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
to the author of the Dissoi Logoi
Dissoi Logoi
Dissoi Logoi is a rhetorical exercise dating back at least to the 3rd century AD of arguing a topic from both sides...
); the numbering of the fragments themselves, within each chapter, is determined generally by the alphabetic order of the names of the sources. The usual way of citing fragments in Diels' edition is to append "Diels-Kranz" or the letters "DK" to the fragment-number; so for example "28B1 Diels-Kranz" or "28B1 DK" (discussed above).
Often, a commentator will refer to a fragment in Diels-Kranz in a more abbreviated form. For example, one may refer to 28B1 as simply "Parmenides, fragment 1".
In spite of the respect paid to Diels' monumental work, there is ongoing controversy among scholars over the details of his arrangement of the fragments. For example, some fragments categorized by Diels as quotations are thought by some scholars to be in reality only paraphrases or explanations of the Presocratic work in question. Also, Diels-Kranz does not of course include fragments discovered since its publication, such as fragments from the Strasbourg papyrus (published in 1998), which preserves for us pieces of Empedocles
Empedocles
Empedocles was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for being the originator of the cosmogenic theory of the four Classical elements...
' poetry never before known in modern times. (What we have in the Strasbourg Papyrus seems to be a continuation of the part of Empedocles' On Nature which is 31B17 DK.)
An English translation or paraphrase of each of the B-fragments in Diels-Kranz may be found in Kathleen Freeman's Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford, 1948; Harvard U. Press, 1957), though it is based on the fifth edition of Diels-Kranz, whose numbering of fragments is somewhat different from later editions.
Major works
- Doxographi Graeci (Berlin, 1879, reprint Berlin: de Gruyter, 1929)
- Simplicii In Aristotelis Physicorum libros quattuor priores commentaria (2 vol. Berlin, 1882-1895, reprint Berlin: de Gruyter, 1962)
- Parmenides Lehrgedicht (Berlin, 1897, second edition with a new Preface by Walter Burkert, Sankt Augustin, Academia Verlag 2003)
- Poetarum Philosophorum Fragmenta (Berlin, 1901, reprint Hildesheim: Weidmann 2000).
- Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (Berlin, 1903, 6th ed., rev. by Walther Kranz (Berlin: Weidmann, 1952; the editions after the 6th are mainly reprints with little or no change.)
- Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte der antiken Philosophie edited by Walter Burkert, Hildesheim: Georf Olms 1969
External links
- Hermann Diels — works relating to Hermann Diels on the Internet Archive
- Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers — Kathleen Freeman's complete translation of the fragments in Diels (Fifth Edition, B-fragments): Google Books, HTML
- Google Books version of Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (1903-1910): Vol. I Vol. II part 1 Vol. II part 2
- Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, in wikilivres